Soil erosion and conservation - contents
index

Everywhere in the world where people change
a natural ecosystem into agriculture, the land degrades. The visible part
is erosion, when soil particles leave the land, transported by gravity,
water or wind. Some erosion is natural but present rates are more than
worrying. Fortunately there are many ways to reduce erosion.

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This long chapter now consists of three parts: erosion1,
erosion2,
erosion3.

Soil can degrade without actually eroding. It
can lose its nutrients and soil biota. It can get damaged by waterlogging
and compaction. Erosion is the visible part of degradation, where soil
particles are transported down-hill by the forces of gravity, water flow
or wind. Erosionand degradation are world-wide problems.

Ironically, the most damaging of rainfall is
the impact with which water droplets hit the soil. From there on, the flow
of water causes sheet-wash, rilling, surface gullying, tunnelling and in
rivers it scours banks.